Railroad-tie construction.



PATENTED FEB. 9,1907.

J. W.- WEBB.

RAILROAD TIE CONSTRUCTION. APPLICATION FILED MAB. 16,1905.

1n: "prams PETERS cm. wnsnmqaron. n. c.

JOHN WILLIAM WEBB, OF COLUMBUS, MISSISSIPPI.

RAILROAD-TIE CONSTRUCTION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 19, 1907.

Application filed March 16,1906. Serial No. 306,428.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JOHN WILLIAM WEBB, a citizen of the United States,residing at Columbus, in the county of Lowndes and State of Mississippi,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railroad- TieConstruction; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledinthe art to which it appertains to make and use the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figuresof reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to railroad cross-ties.

It has for its object to provide a metallic tie formed of pressed steeland which will by reason of its construction embody in its formation andapplication the features of a water-shed to the road-bed, a bridle-rodto prevent the spreading of the rails, and an anticreeper to preventcreeping of the rails. Besides these features, it possesses the meritsof serving as a gage in laying the rails or track, effectiveness inpreventing the rail from being turned or lifted on the side of the innerbase-flange, increased strength and holding power of the lugs hlOh takethe place of spikes for clamping the inner flange of the rail, ease ofaccess to the ballast between the ties when it is desired to add to thesame or to tamp the ballast, facility in removal of ties and sections ofrail when for any reason they are to be replaced, and comparativeinexpensiveness in the cost of production due to the simplicity ofconstruction of the parts constituting the ties.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and such other objects as mayhereinafter appear, the invention consists in features hereinafterparticularly described and then sought to be clearly defined by theclaims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forminga parthere of, and in which Figure 1 is a plan view of a section of a trackcontaining cross-ties made according to the present invention. Fig. 2 isa crosssection on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a cross-section onthe line 3 3 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section on the line4 4 of Fig. 1.

In the drawings the numeral 1 designates a pressed-steel channel-iron ortrough-shaped member having its upwardly extending sides 2 bentoutwardly at the upper portion thereof to form lateral flanges 3, whichwill tend to stiffen the sides, so as to resist the tendency of theballast between the ties to press the sides of said members inwardly.These flanges also serve to afford an extra thickness of metal at theangles of the tiecaps, hereinafter described, thus bracing and impartingadditional strength at the points where the trough-shaped members andtiecaps are joined one to the other.

At proper points toward the ends of the trough-shaped members the metalalong the edges is cut and bent upwardly, so as to form clips 4, whichwill lap over the inner flange of the rails 5 and clamp the rails to theties.

These clips being formed of bent-up portions made by cutting the metalof the sides of the trough-shaped members, give to the clips additionalmetal in the direction of strain lengthwise of the ties and laterally tothe rails, so that the maximum of strength is imparted to the lips, andthe cuts in the metal for the formation of the clips being laterally tothe line of strain instead of lengthwise thereof, as when the lips areformed from the face of flat or horizontally-disposed sheets of metal insome forms of metallic ties, there is avoided the possibility of themetal being fractured or torn along the lines of the cuts by the lateralstrain transmitted from the rails. These lips 4 are also oifset from thesides of the trough-shaped ncember, as indicated at 6, so as to permitthe tie-caps, hereinafter described, to be moved or adjusted lengthwiseof the ties in assembling and locking the parts and also indisassociating them when a tie or section of rail is to be replaced orwhen access is tobe had to the ballast between the ties. Thesetroughshaped members are disposed at suitable distances apart and areconnected one to the other by what for convenience and appropriatenesswill be designated as tie-caps 7. These caps are made in two sections,as illustrated, and will cover the space of the road-bed between thetrough-shaped members. They are formed with depending side flanges 8,which fit over the sides of the trough-shaped members on the insidethereof, and thus serve not only to connect one trough-shaped mem ber toanother, but also to brace the side walls of those members against thetendency of the ballast to press said walls inwardly. These tie-caps areprovided with lips 9, struck up therefrom at suitable points towardtheir outer ends, so that the lips will lap over the that the parts canbe removed and replaced.

outer flange of the rails when brought into proper position. Theadjacent ends of the two sections of each tie-cap are formed withupwardly-extending flanges 10, designed to receive nutted bolts 11, sothat by means of said bolts the two sections may be drawn together, andthus cause their cli s 9 to clamp the rail-flanges and to securelyqockthe rails between said clips and the clips 4 of the trough-shapedmembers and in that manner will lap over the side walls of thetroughshaped members and so that the clips 9 may be drawn by a clampingaction against the flanges of the rails said clips will so tightly gripand hold the rails and the tie-caps will have so tight a hold on thetrough-shaped members that the rails cannot move longitudinally withoutmoving the ties with them, and as that cannot be done the rails will beprevented from creeping, and thus an anticreeping-anchor is provided forthe rails. Furthermore, the construction and mode of application of thetie-caps makes a, bridlerod of said tie-caps to prevent'spreading of therails. By connecting one trough-shaped member to another by thetie-capsa ractically continuous covering is aflorde for the road-bed-that is,for the ballast between the ties and for the portion of the road-bedbeneath the trough-shaped membersso that a perfect water-shed for theroad-bed is I afforded. The trough shaped members, whether. filled withballast or not, will carry off any water that may pass into the troughs,and washing of the ballast between the members will be prevented by thecovering afforded by the tie-caps spanning the spaces between thetrough-shaped members.

In practice the road-bed beneath thetroughshaped members and also theballast between said members may be treated with petroleum or oils, ifnecessary, to guard against the pressed-steel ties corroding. If it bedesired to renew the ballast or to tamp the same, access can be had tothe ballast by loosening the bolts of the tie-caps and sliding said capslengthwise of the trough-shaped members. So if it be necessary toreplace a tie or section of rail the parts can be disassociated byloosening the bolts and sliding the tie-caps so or substituted by otherparts. Even if the first cost of this construction of road-bed should bemore than the construction methods heretofore practiced, the reductionin cost of maintenance will be materially lessened under thisconstruction, so that the ultimate cost as viewed from a practical andbusiness point of view will be less under this than under otherconstructions.

The sides and bottom of the trough-shaped members may'be roughened,corrugated, or indented, as shown, to guard against endwise movement ofthe members.

Having described my invention and set forth its merits, what I claimis 1. In a railroad-tie construction, a metallic trough-shaped memberprovided with railflange-gripping clips formed by struck-up portions ofthe side walls of the trough-shaped member extending above the sidewalls of said member, substantially as described.

2. In a railroad-tie construction, a metallic trough-shaped memberprovided with railflange-gripping clips formed by struck-up portions ofthe side walls of the trough-shaped member extending above the sidewalls of said member and offset therefrom, substan tially as described.

3. In a railroad-tie construction, a metallic trough-shaped memberprovided with outwardly-turned flanges at the upper portion of the sidewalls of saidmember and having rail -flange gripping clips formed bystruck-up portions of the side walls of the trough-shaped member andextending above said side walls, substantially as described.

4. In a railroad-tie construction, a number depending side flangesengaging adjacent walls of the trough-shaped members, said tiecaps beingprovided with rail-flange-gripping clips, substantially as described.

6. In a railroad-tie construction, a number of metallic trough-shapedmembers each provided with rail-flange-gripping clips, and tiecapsconnecting the several trough-shaped members, said tie-caps being formedin sections and provided with means for drawing them toward each other,substantially as described.

7. In a railroad-tie construction, a number of metallic trough-shapedmembers each formed with outwardly-turned flanges at the upper portionof the side walls of said members and having rail-flange-gripping clipsformed by struck-up portions of said side walls, tie-caps formed insections and connecting the several trough-shaped members and providedwith side flanges engaging adjacent walls of the trough-shaped membersand having rail-flange-gripping clips, and means for drawing toward eachother the sections of each tie-cap, substantially as de scribed.

8. In a railroad-tie construction, a number of metallic trough-shapedmembers, sectional tie-caps spanning the space between and connectingthe several trough-shaped members and in connection therewith forming awatershed for a railroad-bed, rail-flange clips attached to saidwater-shed for locking the rails thereto, and means for drawing towardeach other the sections of each tie-cap to prevent the spreading of therails, and for hold- I 5 ing the trough-shaped members, tie-caps andrails together and preventing creeping of the rails, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN WILLIAM WEBB. Witnesses:

JAMEs BURKE, J. B. HODGKIN.

